George Romero Adapting Zombie Autopsies, Turns Down The Walking Dead

In the last decade George Romero has directed just a series of little-seen sequels to his landmark horror film The Night of the Living Dead, but his fingerprints are absolutely everywhere in pop culture. He's often credited with the invention of the zombie, the supernatural creature that has since joined vampires and werewolves as one of the most commonly used horror tropes out there. And while in this interview with ion he admits that he thinks video games, not movies, are the future of zombie stories, he also said he has another zombie story up his sleeve, an adaptation of his friend's book The Zombie Autopsies. Romero has optioned the book and is working on the screenplay; here's how describes what the movie would be:

This is Steve's [Steve Schlozman, the author] story, not mine. It's more like The Andromeda Strain. It's very tense and very medically correct. This guy's a doctor, it's all about being medically correct. I think about it like the first Hammer Frankenstein film, which was all about very graphic scenes of brains floating in blood and things like that. I want it to be perfectly accurate, almost shockingly so.

It's hard to know how serious Romero is about the adaptation-- most of the interview is spent talking about where zombie movies stand today, what a "roomer zombie" mens and how excited he is about video games. It's clear that he's not itching to go into production on Zombie Autopsies soon, but also that it's something he fully expects to happen down the line. While we wait, though, don't cross your fingers for Romero to take over an episode of The Walking Dead. As he tells it, those zombies are completely different from his:

I love the books, I haven't seen any of the episodes. Listen I love Frank [Darabont], I know he's done a good job. I love the books, I never watched any of the episodes because… my zombies are sort of my own. I didn't want to be part of it. Producers called and said, "do you want to direct some of these," and I said no. Because I just didn't think it was me.

The fact that he loves Frank Darabont, who was fired as showrunner over the summer, probably makes it even more unlikely that Romero will pay a visit to AMC's zombie show. Head over to io9 for much more from the mind of Romero, and if you've read Zombie Autopsies, chime in with a comment letting us know what to expect.